Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan

It’s a revealing, at times raw, examination of Whelan’s final year with the City Ballet

—Katherine Cusumano, W Magazine

allows us to see her stoic control, her superhuman strength under pressure, and also to see through it — to the self-doubt, the fear of losing her very identity.

—Brian Seibert, The New York Times

an artist documentary that will play movingly—inspiringly, even—for those who aren’t already fans.

—Kenji Fujishima, Paste Magazine

A shocking documentary

—Lisa Jo Sagolla, Film Journal

Linda Saffire,
Adam Schlesinger

2016

USA

90 minutes

In 1984, Wendy Whelan joined the New York City Ballet as an apprentice; by 1991, she had been promoted to Principal Dancer. She quickly became a revered and beloved figure throughout the dance world. Wrote Roslyn Sulcas, “her sinewy physicality, her kinetic clarity, and her dramatic, otherworldly intensity have created a quite distinct and unusual identity.” Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger’s film follows this extraordinary artist throughout a passage of life that all dancers must face, when she must confront the limitations of her own body and adapt to a different relationship with the art form she loves so madly. An NYFF54 selection. An Abramorama release.

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